Historic Sackets Harbor, NY [Lake Ontario] (October 4, 2014)

Home of Augustus Sacket

The Place

In 1801, Augustus Sacket founded a town next to this naturally protected harbor in the Southeast corner of Lake Ontario.  Come the War of 1812 and the US Navy recognized the potential of Sackets Harbor both strategically and for the seemingly endless supplies of wood in the abundant forests nearby.     They established a Navy Yard in the town and started building ships to fight the British.  A very famous battle was fought here during the war, and then a second battle.  The Navy Yard was maintained in Sackets Harbor for quite some time after that war.  The army also set up the Madison Barracks in town as a base that was in use until WWII. Ulysses S Grant was stationed here as a young officer.  Fiorello Laguardia, former of mayor of New York, was a child on the base.   

Renovated Old Hotel

After the navy and army pulled out of Sackets, the town enjoyed a time as a vacation destination.  Most interesting to me is that when the town fell on hard times in the 1970s, the town citizens started renovating buildings, got designation for the town as a Heritage Area, and reinvented the town as an historical destination.  Bravo!

The Adventure

Navy Yard Officers Quarters

After 10 days of Indian Summer, Fall arrived with temps in the 40s, high winds and driving rain.  Not the ideal weather for visiting a peninsula in a mighty inland sea.  The home of Augustus Sacket has been turned into a very well designed and informative Visitors Center.   

From there, you can walk to the site of the Navy Yard and the famous Battle of Sackets Harbor.  I won’t include all the details of that battle here – the summary is that the US was building a ship that was mightier than any British ship on the Lake, and the British tried to destroy the ship before it was completed.  They were not successful in destroying the ship and in fact retreated eventually from the battle.  However, during the battle a junior US officer panicked and ordered all the storehouses of supplies and materials to be set to fire so that they would not be captured by the British.  The loss of all of these materials provided a huge setback for the US Navy at that time, even though they won the battle.

Water Tower - Madison Barracks

The Madison Barracks is in the process of being brought back to life.  Some of the old buildings have been renovated and are being used.  Yet, they sit next to other buildings of a similar vintage that are in woeful disrepair, almost ruin.  There are newly built apartment complexes on the property, so it is clear that the Town Fathers intend to revive this part of their town as well.  On the Barracks property is a marvelous stone water tower, pictured here.

On a personal note – I had not realized how much I didn’t know about the War of 1812.  Other than when the British burned Washington, the Battle of New Orleans, and the writing of the National Anthem in Baltimore, I am uninformed about this war.  However, up here on the borders with Canada, where a good part of the war was fought, there are forts and monuments and battles everywhere.